IRF for enacting Motor Bill in 2nd leg of Budget session

Expressing serious concerns over increasing road accidents, the International Road Federation (IRF) has urged parliamentarians to help enact the much awaited Motor Bill in the second half of Budget session.
"Now that the Parliamentary Standing Committee... Has submitted its recommendations and tabled them in Parliament, IRF urges the Union Government and the members of Parliament from various political parties to adopt the recommendations and clear the much awaited Road Safety Bill in the coming session of parliament beginning March 9," the IRF said today.
The appeal comes in the wake of India reporting as high as 5 lakh road accidents annually in which 1.5 lakh people die and 3 lakh suffer injuries.

The IRF said India is a signatory to the UN's Decadal Action Plan of reducing road traffic fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020 but India is facing severe problems in terms of deteriorating road safety.
It said as a signatory to the Decade of Action Plan, reiterated in Brasilia, India is committed to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities by half by 2020.
"Implementation of the new MVA, which has provisions for strict enforcement with appropriate penalties, accompanied by public awareness of the laws will be a critical factor in reducing road traffic injuries and deaths. Once the proposed amendment is passed, traffic rule violators will have to cough up hefty penalties -- almost 10 times more than what they pay now - for offences such as overloading," said K K Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation, a Geneva-based body.